Pennsylvania schools mull cutbacks, cost-cutting measures

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA), recently released the results of a statewide survey conducted in August that shows schools statewide continue to face budgetary issues and have been forced to cut programs and increase class size, among other cost-cutting measures, as a result.

The survey, encompassing more than 250 districts across the state, was conducted in response to the $930 million cut in education funding in the current state budget and shows that a 70 percent of districts have had to increase class size, 35 percent have reduced or eliminated tutoring programs and 20 percent have had to eliminate summer school or similar programs.

Based on the results of the survey, many local districts have similar issues that districts across the state are facing. For example, the Norristown Area School District recently had to suspend the marching band program at the high school because it was not financially viable to continue with limited student interest and recently had to transfer a teacher from one elementary to another in an attempt to make class sizes slightly smaller.

Upper Merion Area School District has also had similar concerns over class size when the school board voted to approve the creation of several new teaching positions at elementary schools in the district.

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“These recommendations are not made lightly but the ramification of not creating these positions will result in class sizes at some schools and some levels of 26 or 27 and we think that is too many,” then-Superintendent Melissa Jamula said at the board’s August meeting.

With the creation of those positions, the school board also spoke of impending space limitations facing the district in the coming years, as enrollment continues to increase in the district and across the state.

“We are dealing now with the potential of 26 or 27 students in first grade,” Jamula said at the meeting. “Right now, to address that problem, we are faced with the options that are not pleasant.”

Based on the survey, the Upper Merion Area and Norristown Area School Districts are not alone in facing potentially unwieldy class sizes as seven percent of responding schools had to close buildings and another 20 percent had to delay construction or renovation of buildings to alleviate space issues.

In addition to the space limitations many districts are currently facing, 30 percent of responding districts had to reduce the workforce in the district. According to the PASBO press release, if extrapolated for the entire state, approximately 4,200 positions were left vacant.

In attempts to deal with the major budgetary issues that most districts are facing as a result of the dramatic reduction in state funding, schools have begun to attempt to raise funds using a variety of different methods.

The Colonial School District, for example, announced at its September school board meeting plans to ramp up fundraising efforts to ensure that programs in the district will still be able to provide all the programs that parents and students have come to expect.

“Aggressive fundraising is really very new for public schools in this state,” Community Relations Coordinator Dave Sherman said at the meeting. “I think it’s becoming clearer each day that schools in Pennsylvania are facing some very difficult financial challenges.”

In addition to new or increased fundraising efforts, 70 percent of districts had to use reserve funds to ensure a balanced budget.

Decreased funding at a state level and rising expenses, including the higher cost of food and gasoline and increased contributions to the pension plans for retired teachers have put public schools in a difficult position, based on the findings of the PASBO-PASA joint survey. As a result, districts across the state have had to cope in a variety of different ways. However, based on recent trends, the budgetary problems may continue to get worse before getting better.